Thursday, April 11, 2013

Last night, my son, Mickey, played violin in a concert... sort of. There is this group of companies to which his organization, a telecommunication provider called SMART, owned by a guy named Manny V. Pangilinan and every year, they have this MVPO (O for Olympics) where each company sends in delegates for competition. This yearly event is culminated in a concert where delegates from all the companies perform at the Meralco Theater. They have a beauty pageant, a spin off from American Idol and lastly, a British Got Talent type of show. Anyway, Mickey was chosen by his company to perform in the last category. He was quite happy because the company gave him some cash for his get up. Since Kim is a fashion stylist, he asked her to dress him up and she did help her Kuya to prepare for the performance.

Last night was the big night and there we were, seated at the aisles as we arrived late and the theater was filled to the brim, eagerly awaiting for his turn. All the companies sent in a huge delegation. The first one, PLDT, did the opening act of The Lion King, the second was a group who sang Lady Gaga's Born this Way but with a different twist, a mixture of arrangement from a Jazzy tune a la Manhattan Transfer and all the that... Everything was going fine and everyone was having a good time. Until, I saw a lone figure with a violin. Okay, picture me and my wife, holding our breaths, excited. I put my iPad on record and aimed it at him so that I wouldn't miss a note, especially those bends and slurs and vibratos I hear when I heard him practicing a day before. He was introduced.. and I was thinking, here goes...He started to play... but after a few notes, the lapel mike attached to his violin started to malfunction. He kept on playing. I was waiting for anyone, the judges, the organizer, anyone, to stop the performance, fix the technical problem and have him play again. After all, it was, albeit a friendly competition, still a competition, right? Nada! They let him perform like that with the audio problems. I was devastated! Kim who was seated not far from us was shouting "AGAIN! AGAIN!" to no avail. I wanted to go to the technical crew and shout at them, strangle the technical director but I restrained myself. I had never been a stage father. I let my children deal with their own problems to prepare them for life. But I am really pissed off. I know how it could be frustrating to practice hard and perform and for naught. I never expected him to win considering the kind of judges ( a movie director/writer, an actress and a gay columnist) and the type of crowd who were just there to have a good time. His performance is not the type who will lord it over the typical sing and dance routine and magic, but I would have wanted him to have a fighting chance nonetheless even if it were only for bragging rights ( I have always been competitive, I guess).

During the interview portion, one of the judges jokingly said, "I think someone sabotaged your performance! But I liked what you did with the arrangement of that Rolling in the Deep song. While I hardly heard most of the song, I loved it."

Oh well, here I go ranting again about one of my children's misfortune. The good thing is Mickey's fine with it. He said he already won with that garment package. hahaha. Well, if he's happy, I am. Especially knowing that he did his best. He told me he did not miss a single note and knowing my son and his gestures onstage, I know he didn't and I am proud of him no matter what. Congratulations, my son!

About Me

Jack of all trade, master of none.
First a disclaimer. My students have discovered this blog and they might think that what I write is gospel truth. Worse is they might find an argument that they think they can use, for some reason or another, against their teachers. So, to set the record straight, it is NOT. As a matter of fact, I write and open it to feedback to get another view in the hope that somebody would tell me if I am wrong and reenforce my thinking if it is right. Not that I will accept anything thrown my way, though. Just so I can think about it some more and decide whether my original stance is right or definitely off tangent. So there. I hope that clarifies everything. Now, on to blogging.